The Pangnirtung Print Shop originated in 1969, with government support
and financial assistance, as part of the Canadian government's effort to create
cash-based employment in developing Inuit communities. The annual Pangnirtung
Community Print Collection, under the auspices of the Uqqurmiut Centre for Arts
& Crafts, promotes Inuit
culture with fine art prints imagery that celebrates the land and traditional Inuit
life, lore and legend. In 1973, the Print Shop
published its first collection of limited-edition prints, which was sold in fine art
galleries in Canada and the United States. Under the leadership of Lypa
Pitsiulak, the Print Shop continued to produce
limited-edition prints, broadening its range to include stencils, lithographs,
etchings, and lino-cuts. Initially under the auspices of the Pangnirtung Eskimo
Co-operative, annual collections were produced from 1975-1980 and
1983-88.

The creation of the Uqqurmiut Inuit Artists
Association in 1988, initially a community effort aimed at taking control of printmaking
in Pangnirtung, began a new era of stewardship for the local arts community. The UIAA purchased the assets of the Print Shop from the
Pangnirtung Eskimo Co-operative
and re-established printmaking in the community in 1991, operating out of the
old “weave shop” after the weavers moved their activities into the first of the new buildings
that make up the Uqqurmiut Centre. Annual print collections resumed in 1992
and have continued ever since. The release of the 2003 Pangnirtung Community Print Collection marks the
30th anniversary of printmaking in Pangnirtung
– three decades of output in all since 1973!

On March 29, 1994, a potentially devastating event occurred. During the small
hours of the morning, a fire broke out in the old print shop and gutted the
building completely. Equipment, raw materials and many prints and drawings
were lost. Fortunately, a large portion of the drawings archives escaped with
only minimal smoke damage. That year, alternative temporary printmaking
facilities were made available by Nunavut Arctic College, and, despite their
apparent devastating loss, the Inuit artists and printmakers succeeded in
completing and delivering the 1994 print collection. Surely this effort was
like the proverbial Phoenix rising from the flames, a true testament to the
spirit and determination of the Pangnirtung printmakers. [Read
more about this in the 1998 print catalogue introduction by John Houston]

Over the years, the Print Shop has seen many faces pass through its doors as
printmakers. In 2004 there were ten participants making Pangnirtung prints: Josea Maniapik, Enookie
Akulukjuk, Andrew Qappik, Jolly Atagooyuk, Noah Maniapik, Tommy Angnakak, Annie Kilabuk, Geela
Sowdluapik, Leetia Alivaktuk, and Abigail Ootoova. As well, approximately
another 25 individuals have been associated with the Print Shop as contributing artists.